Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang, Alternate End
by Snufflebottoms
Summary: "It was the reason she spared the man who killed her mother. To become a killer yourself wasn't worth it. But Katara had the luxury of choice." An alternate end to the series. Please read!


**Avatar: The Last Airbender **

**Book 3: Fire**

**Chapter 21: Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang, Alternate Ending**

**A/N: This is a one shot for right now. I'd really like some feed back. I'm working on a series of chapters that will follow the canon closely and I don't know yet if I should use the alternate ending or not. Please read and review. I don't own any of the characters, etc. **

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With a brilliant flash of light, all the sound in the world was sucked up into a vacuum of mystery. It was silent.

After 100 years of fighting, 100 years of anger and strife, there was silence. The timing was unnaturally perfect. As the blueish glow that radiated from the rocky wasteland began to fade, the battles fought in the palace and in the sky and in the sea and in the streets subsequently paused. Everyone was exhausted, severely injured or dead.

For the first time in many years, so many people of such different paths were united by mutual feelings of weariness and uncertainty. No one wanted to admit it their doubts or lack of confidence, but they were all waiting for the outcome to be revealed.

"It's over," Toph said quietly. Sokka waited for Toph to tell him Aang had won, but she had no way of knowing that yet. She could only see things her feet touched, and right now she was standing on a Fire Nation airship. Suki held tightly onto Sokka's body, allowing him to support her weight. The two warriors had no fight left in them today.

Over at the Fire Nation Palace, Katara's heart ached as she looked toward where the light had been. _Was the blue Aang's avatar spirit or a flash of lightening from Ozai's comet-powered firebending? _She wondered as she look away from Azula's fit of rage. Zuko's eyes remained on Azula, watching expressionlessly as she struggled. He wondered if his father was dead. He wondered if his mother still lived. Was he an orphan now?

The delay in action was the first indication that the Fire Lord had not been victorious. There was no declaration of victory for the Fire Nation, no rain of lightening on the Earth Kingdom, no obscene display of power. It was silent. This was both comforting and alarming. The possibility that both Aang and Ozai were dead haunted all of Aang's allies, and it stung Katara especially. She had left him on a bad note after the Ember Island Players' play. What would they do with out him? What would she do?

And then, without making a sound, the fires which were so eagerly devouring buildings, trees and helpless victims dissolved into nothingness as the air that fueled them was ripped away. The oceans rose to kill the embers and then sloshed back again. The earth rose from where the light had flashed. And then it fell silent again.

Katara, who had unconsciously been holding her breath, gasped. Aang was clearly alive. He had won. Katara was certain that that was the only possibility. "Zuko," she said, jarring the prince out of his daze, "we have to find the others."

"Do you. . . think that he did it?" Zuko asked, looking away from his sister to meet Katara's gaze.

"I … don't know," she whispered, touching his arm, "but something's happened. We have to go." The truth was, in her heart of hearts she wasn't sure what she hoped for. Ozai's death would mean that the war was definitely over. But it meant that Zuko had lost his father. And it meant that Aang had killed a man. Katara could only imagine what that would do to the boy she loved.

"What about Azula?" Zuko asked, thrusting an open hand toward the deranged princess. Azula's cries and breaths of lightening could be heard clearly now that all other fight had ceased.

"We have to find Aang," Katara said uneasily. And in response, Zuko nodded. As if on cue, Appa met them at the front of the palace. He made a large thud as his tail slapped the concrete.

"Come on," Katara said as she reached for Zuko's hand.

"No." Zuko replied, "_You_ have to find Aang. I have to secure our victory here." Katara nodded and for the time being the two parted ways.

Meanwhile, Toph, Sokka, and Suki struggled as their deformed airship began to spiral down, throwing the three of them off the wing and toward the water. Toph brought up a chunk of earth from the ocean floor, on which the three made a crash landing. Sokka landed on his side, falling on his bad leg. He let out an unmanly scream. Suki landed, semi gracefully, on two feet and a hand. Toph slid, face first, across the ground.

"Maybe you should have let the blind girl drive," Toph said, spitting dirt out of her mouth.

"Sokka!" Suki yelled, "All you alright?"

"My leg..." Sokka choked.

"Can you walk? Should you walk?" Suki asked as she moved to help support Sokka.

"I'll be fine. Toph, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't baby me," she said reflexively. The young girl then pushed herself up off the ground and met with Sokka and Suki. "So... what now?" Toph asked.

"We find Aang," Katara appeared from the overhead with Appa.

"We should head toward the center, where the light came from," Sokka said, ushering the Suki and Toph on Appa. It took both Suki and Toph to drag Sokka, who was unable to jump, up. They traveled in silence for a few minutes until Appa landed in front of the clearing of rocks where Ozai and Aang had fought. But Sokka was unable to walk and so he and Suki agreed to stay on Appa.

"Katara, you have to go. It's you. It's always been you," Sokka said.

"I can't leave you," Katara said, "You're hurt. Let me heal you." The truth was, she did love her brother, and she really did want to heal him but she also wanted desperately to find Aang. And she wanted to make sure he was okay and not hurt. It did not take much more prodding to get her to leave.

"No, I'll be fine. You're the only one that can help Aang. He needs you. You and Toph go. I know you can handle what is out there," Sokka winced and Katara nodded.

"I hate to be the one to say this," Toph said, jumping down "but if he were okay, wouldn't Aang have come back to meet us by now?" Nobody responded, as she verbalized what everyone was thinking and fearing. Katara and Toph continued on foot in silence for a few minutes before Toph spoke again. "I feel two bodies, a few feet apart – that way!" She pointed toward the group's left.

"Bodies?" Katara asked uneasily.

"That noise is definitely Twinkle Toe's breathing. Aang's alive," Toph said, reassuring Katara, "But-"

"Aang!" Katara yelled running toward the direction Toph had indicated. "Aang," she whispered as the boy became visible.

The two found themselves in the center of the earthen field. Many of the pillars that had protrude from the ground where destroyed. There was mud and ash everywhere. The body of Ozai was lying peacefully across the ground; both his arms were perfectly straight at his sides. His eyes were closed. Without any other information, one might think he was sleeping. He had no visible injuries, no scratches or wounds from lightening or fire. A young boy with blue arrows tattooed over his entire body sat next to him. The boy was obviously Aang, but he looked different, as though all the life and happiness had been sucked out of him. He sat, legs crossed, with his hands in his lap. Tears fell from his eyes as he stared at Ozai.

"He's dead," Toph said, indicating Ozai. The words rolled off her lips and hung in the air for a few minutes before sinking in.

"Aang..." Katara said for a third time, kneeling beside Aang. Aang looked at her, letting his tears fall freely without comment. She wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to fall into her. He had never looked so young, so vulnerable. It was hardly plausible that he had just killed the most powerful man in the world. But he had done just that and as he looked to her, the little control the boy had left him. He sobbed uncontrollably. He sobbed so hard that it was hard to breathe. He alternated between whimpering and choking on the air in his lungs. For several minutes he sobbed audibly, shamelessly, soaking Katara's garments with his tears. Then, his labored breaths began moving in and out so quickly they made no sound at all. The tears streamed down his face as he shook erratically.

Normally, Toph would have found Aang's lack of masculinity amusing but today, it broke her heart. Aang's disposition was so naturally opposite Toph's that sometimes she found him to be a weak excuse for the Avatar. But she understood now why Aang needed to be the way he was. Ozai needed to die, but war was a horrible thing. Katara had also had trouble understanding Aang's defense of evil people's right to live. His conviction that a murder's life was still sacred almost disgusted her. But she realized now it wasn't about saving murders. It was about what it took to kill. It was the feeling she felt when she had learned bloodbending. And it was the reason she spared the man who had killed her mother. To become a killer yourself wasn't worth it. But Katara had the luxury of choice.

After a few minutes, it was Toph whom Katara addressed, "Toph, you and the others must go. Find Iroh. You must tell him his brother is dead. You must inform the masses that the Fire Nation has fallen. You must tell Zuko and he must take control, immediately." Toph nodded, "Take Appa and the others with you. Aang and I will find you." Toph went to leave, walking away and then she turned back for a moment.

"Twinkle toes, I know you don't feel like it but you're a hero," Toph said, taking a breath. "All the people, the hundreds of people Ozai would have killed today are still alive. Children. Mothers. Fathers. Lovers. Your friends. Me. Katara. We would have died, Aang. And now. . ."

"And now the world will find peace," Katara said, holding Aang tighter. Aang made a whimper in acknowledgment, as an attempt to thank Toph for trying. He didn't have the willpower to make some sort of righteous speech. He had violated the one thing he had left from the monks. But the monks had violated it too one hundred years ago today . . . to save him. And they had failed. The images of several Fire Army masks, surrounding Gyatso's worn skeleton, belonging to men who had wives and children and parents were seared in Aang's mind. And he didn't how to handle it. He was just a child who never wanted to save the world. He never wanted the monks to kill defending him. He never wanted them to die defending him. He never wanted any of this.

"Aang..." Katara said again, holding him even tighter. He moved to wipe the tears away from his eyes, but it was no use. A fresh set formed quicker than the old ones could be dried by the sleeves of his garments.

"I killed him," Aang said in a voice Katara had never heard before.

"I know," she said dumbly, rocking him back and forth. She regretted the words the instant they left her lips.

"I'm a monster," Aang continued, "I looked him in the eyes and I . . . killed him."

"No," Katara whispered in Aang's ear, "you're a hero." But the boy wasn't ready to believe her and he fell silent again. The turmoil that sat inside him could not be quenched as it had before. He fell into her chest again, sobbing harder with a new found energy, crying until he had used up all the energy in his oddly muscular body, passing out in Katara's arms. There was much to be done but for now, she allowed Aang to sleep, feeling a kind of rage she had not felt even when her mother died. Aang didn't deserve this fate; he didn't deserve this pain.

Today, the war was over, but there was no peace.


End file.
